Oban's Myths & Legends

How the Tortoise got his shellBy Mrs Dalziel's Year 3 and 4 Class
Kidderminster
England

Long, long ago in the dessert lived a Tortoise. The Tortoise had a brown wrinkly body because the sun was always beating down on him, without a shell he was getting burnt!

One day Tortoise was running a race with Cheetah; he was running so fast Cheetah could not see him. Suddenly Tortoise tripped and then tumbled down a steep, rocky mountain.

Later that day at the bottom of the mountain Tortoise woke up, spinning on his back! Tortoise felt all dizzy and he had a lot of pain, he tried to get up but he couldn’t! He felt something hard and heavy on his back. He realised he had a cracked rock on his wrinkly body!

Cheetah came crashing down the mountain to see if Tortoise was ok.

Cheetah tried to help Tortoise to get up and pull the rock off his back. Tortoise screamed in pain because the rock would not come off!

Cheetah said ‘You look better with the rock and it will protect you from the sun. Let’s have another race!’

‘No thanks, I am tired’ said Tortoise as he curled up inside his rock.

So that is how the Tortoise came to have a shell and how the Cheetah became the fastest animal!